Far Cry 5: welcome to small town America with a hint of fanatics.

Right well the reveal trailer for Far Cry 5 just came barrelling out of the gates and what we see here is…weird. The game is set in the United States in small town America and right off the bat we are greeted by religious fanatics who take over a small town and begin forcefully converting people under the guise of: “helping them to salvation.”

The trailer also seems to show a pastor, what appears to be a bar owner, and some other folks who resist – with deadly force – the fanatics who have come armed to the teeth and are taking over the town. Apart from that the trailer did not reveal much, but from what the IGN commentators spoke of you play as a sheriff who goes into this town and gets cut off from the outside world – from there you have to deal with the problems and bring back order to the small town. Right there I am already interested as I see people who could be key characters to the plot who are not the bad guys and who are not helpless and in need of rescue; they are clearly armed (even the pastor who is seen in one scene sitting on the front entrance of his church with a shotgun) and are unafraid to shoot to kill. Sure I understand the idea that the player is the hero of the story, but I would like to see NPCs who are in the world actually stand on their own two feet – this sort of design gives off the impression that bystanders are utterly helpless and you are the only one who can make things right.

Interesting setting; I feel as though the creators wanted to explore the idea of religious fanaticism as prior games explored lawless islands, and dictatorships in far away lands. Now we are set right here in North America in the United States and we are greeted with religious fanatics who resemble people that have retreated from mainstream America to live in a rural setting and begin to take over a small town in hopes of surviving a coming disaster. Now the theme will stir up some controversy but I think it might prove fruitful as a path to lead into a discussion on fanaticism and the dangers of it. Then again I am being optimistic; a game is a game and the important aspect of a game is to have fun. Following a similar trend is strategy games and so on that tackle warfare: actual warfare is either really boring or really dangerous whereas in games a player is given the chance to experience the soldier fantasy.

Far Cry 5 could prove interesting, but I am still slowly working my way through Far Cry 3 and 4; the games are good in short bursts but I doubt I can dive into it as I did the Witcher 3 – it just does not feel too immersive. Thanks for reading folks; just a heads up I have updated the schedule for Friday streams as it will now be held specifically around 3:30pm PDT to 5:30pm PDT – the stream may end early, or something important may spark up and force me to not stream for the day. Regardless at least there will be a time slot for people to tune in should they wish to watch some gameplay with no commentary: have a good day folks and I shall see you next time.